UGH... Why do people ask questions but not give you enough information to respond properly?

What kind of boat is it?? Does it have an outboard or in-board motor currently?

If it has an outboard motor, then whatever you buy should probably fit where the existing one was mounted. If it had an in-board, replacing it with an outboard is probably a really stupid idea.

The price of a 25 HP outboard depends on whether it is new or use, two-stroke or four-stroke, what brand, how old, etc. Google can give you a rough range of prices...

Most boats have a transom...A transom is the transverse, vertical or sloping, panel forming the after end of a boat's hull. Double-enders like canoes and peapods have no transom.

If the boat was in-board powered, and you want to replace it with an outboard, you will probably have to install an lifting motor bracket... but you will probably also have to glass over the existing shaft exit that the current propellor shaft comes out through the hull. If not, you're risking having the boat sunk when water starts coming in via the prop shaft.

Removing the old in-board engine, transmission and prop shaft, glassing over the prop thru-hull, buying the outboard and outboard motor mounting bracket, and the installation of it may be more expensive than getting the current engine re-built. It will also change the performance and handling characteristics of the boat, most likely in a negative way.

Depending on the size and layout of the boat, you may also need to purchase and install remote engine controls, as on many boats, you would not be able to safely reach the outboard motor's gear shift or throttle from the helm.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Yes, you would probably need an outboard motor mounted on a lifting bracket with a remote set of throttle/gearshift controls. Make sure that the quote you get includes the remote throttle/gearshift controls. As I don't believe you'll be able to reach the controls on the outboard from the helm.

The reason you need a lifting bracket mount, is without one, the outboard motor will generally be far to high, and will lift out of the water when the boat rocks in swells or to the motion of the seas. I don't know whether the lifting outboard motor mounts will allow the outboard to get down low enough to really be useful. I would find out whether this is really feasible before trying to continue.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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We are not primarily on earth to see through one another, but to see one another through
Some people are like slinkies: not really good for anything... but you can't help laughing when you push them down the stairs

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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The other thing to consider is that having your prop just in front of your rudder is a big pplus. That is where your inboard engine puts it. Swinging an outboard way back over the transom means you will loose a lot of manuevarability at slower speed in marinas and such, and with the amount of windage that a sailboat offers (even without the sails up), manuevarability is a very good thing indeed to have!

My advice would be to get a porper assesment of the inboard and if at all possible, have it repaired/rebuilt.

Outboards are also louder, moresuseptible to being swamped by following seas and FAR FAR more suseptible to theft (with an inboard they just have to steal the whole boat). So unless you fancy hoisting a 25hp outboard in and out of your companionway everytime you want to get off the boat for a while, an inboard justifies itself nicely (the abilty to do maintenance at sea without having to hoist the engine inside or hang off the transom trying to swap a clogged filter) is also a big plus.

If you have a Yanmar diesel, I would especially advise making all effort to "save" it, as diesel is a far safer and more efficient fuel source for boats (1 litre of diesel takes you the same distance as about 3 litres of gas, so you do not need to carry as much).

Anyway, the C27 is a nice little boat, don't screw with it too much before you have had a chance to really use it and make a list of what you want to do to personalise it/optimise it to your needs and you will be fine.

The Columbia 27 might be a bit heavy to push with an outboard. I believe it has a "wineglass" stern that might tend to sink a good deal below it's lines if one were to place an outboard powerful enough to push the boat back there. You might also find the prop pushing air in some choppy conditions. This is NOT good for an outboard, since it causes the motor to rev at the same time it cuts off cooling from the water. (How often do you want to buy a new 25hp outboard?) The transom may not be built to take the torquing and pressure back there, either. Do you want to have to rebuild it as well? More important than the age of the engine is how well it has been maintained. Diesels routinely run for many thousands of hours if they are maintained well. Our Yanmar 3GM diesel is 24 years old, and we expect many more years from it, despite it's being raw-water cooled. Atomic 4 gasoline engines have a reputation for longevity also. They're also relatively lightweight, powerful, and quiet. Gasoline engines have more possible "issues" than diesels, but if it ain't broke... Even if you have an Atomic 4 and it develops a problem, mechanics (and others on this site, for example) are familiar with them and know how to fix them. Perhaps as part of your survey (you are going to have the boat surveyed, no?) you should have a proper mechanic inspect the engine. Perhaps you should insist on running it while the mechanic is there, for good measure. THEN you'll have a better idea of what the issues are. Maybe $500 spent on the existing engine would be better than putting $1500 into an outboard that will never be a good solution.

If you keep the inboard operating, even if you need to do a rebuild, you are likely to get any incremental cost back when you sell the boat. For whatver reason, inboards are more desireable and bring a premium over the same boat with an outboard. A C27 with both an an outboard and an inboard would be a bastard that many buyers will shy away from. I would personally think the expedient of adding an outboard would end up being more expensive than maintaining what you have, and a less satisfactory solution.

A second thought is that putting a heavy outboard on the stern is likely to cause the boat to float stern low, resulting in a permanent beard of bottom growth unless you raise the waterline. You could reduce this problem by removing the inboard and tank, but a 25 hp outboard is way too big. I,ve never seen anything bigger than 10HP hanging off a sailboat stern. Seems to me there was a tread on this subject in the last two months, you might search for it.

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